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5 Ways The All-Star Game Is Baseball's Super Bowl

Written by: Jason Notte07/15/13 - 8:30 AM EDT

PORTLAND, Ore. (TheStreet) -- It doesn't matter that Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig didn't get enough votes to make Major League Baseball's All-Star Game. It doesn't matter if the New York Yankees' Robinson Cano deserves to start at second base or not.

What matters is the money. Everything else is just there to distract fans from what's exiting their wallets.

In the eyes of Major League Baseball, it just doesn't matter what they give the fans. When Pete Rose bowled over Ray Fosse in the 1970 All-Star Game as if he were going for the run that would win the World Series, he separated Fosse's shoulder and was roundly criticized by fans for being overly aggressive in an exhibition game. When Barry Bonds lifted Torii Hunter onto his shoulders after Hunter robbed him of a home run in the 2002 All-Star Game, fans wondered why it had become a beer-league softball game and pined for Rose's "Charlie Hustle" grit of yore.

When the game ended in a tie in 2002, fans complained. When the league made the outcome of the game decide home-field advantage in the World Series, fans wept for the integrity of the game. If you can't please 'em, you may as well fleece 'em.

After all, when you're in a league where a series-format playoff decides the championship, a one-off event such as this is a rare treat. It limits supply, jacks up demand and puts baseball on a level with the National Football League and the NCAA's college basketball postseason. It may not be MLB's Super Bowl, but it's far and away the most competitive and defense-driven All-Star game that any of the major leagues have to offer.

With that in mind, here are five reasons why the All-Star game is Major League Baseball's big money event: